1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a belt or binder, which may be used for a variety of applications, such as for weight lifting and other exercises, for motorcycle or truck driving support belts, and for belts for tool holsters, the latter being used by carpenters, electricians and utility linemen. The belts may also be used as "designer" belts and clothing accessories.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior belts or binders have ordinarily been fabricated from relatively stiff and hard materials, such as leather. Although, over a lengthy "break-in" period the leather will tend to soften and conform to the particular configuration of the individual wearing the belt, the leather material is relatively heavy and unyielding, and may become an additional burden when used to support tools or the like. Also, prior belts were often designed for one individual size and were relatively restricted in use to a particular application.
There are other belts and binders available for recovery and rehabilitation use, such as those prescribed by medical practitioners. These have generally been fabricated of materials which do not conform to body contours, are uncomfortable to wear and are very noticeable to the public, causing fashion conscious patients to intentionally avoid using the prescribed supports.
Gun holsters, per se, have been made with a sandwich-type construction as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,947 granted to Clifton L. Cook.
A general object of the present invention is to provide a belt or binder, having a contracted or relaxed state memory adapted to conform to an individual and to receive various degrees of stress in localized areas depending upon the bone structure and other configuration of the individual wearing the belt.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a belt achieving the requirements of the prior art belts, but minimizing the objectionable concerns of past belts.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a belt or binder capable of being used in athletic events, such as weight lifting, weight throwing and other actions where support is required, and in application such as so-called "kidney belts" for motorcycle and truck operators, utility linemen belts for supporting tool holsters and fashion belts.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of a belt which may be prescribed by medical practitioners for support during convalescence or rehabilitation from surgery or injury.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a belt which is lightweight and relatively comfortable to wear and which is readily adaptable for choice of fabric colors, decorative trim and use of "designer" buckles and other accessories.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a belt or binder is proposed which is characterized by a sandwich-type construction including three layers. An intermediate or central layer takes the form of a yieldably firm elastomer, such as a closed-cell foam, which functions to provide contracted-shape memory, allowing the belt to deform to accommodate various applications. Inner and outer layers take the form of durable, wear-resistance fabrics which are preferably stretchable to prevent creasing and also to conform to irregular surface patterns of the body-conforming, memory-forming intermediate layer. The belt may further include an external ribbon or edging providing a stitched-on bead to cover the exposed edges of the three layers or webs. Further, the supporting belt may include any of a variety of additional closure or webbing means, releasably fastened by buckles, snaps and closures, e.g. of "Velcro" type material, either alone or in combination with a buckle to secure the free end of a belt or web utilized along with the buckle.
The three layers are preferably surface-bonded or "Flame" combined to one another using any of a variety of conventional adhesives or by the use of heat.
The proposed belt or binder offers all of the advantage discussed above and substantially avoids the aforementioned drawbacks of prior belts. Each of the three layers function to provide a particular advantage, and the collection of layers acts to furnish an extremely reliable and versatile belt having less weight and being less cumbersome than prior belts. Relaxed-shaped memory is provided by the central or intermediate layer to accommodate the individualistic contour of the person wearing the belt. The belt does not take on a specific memory, but may provide the desired support with change of clothing, loss or gain of weight, and with variations of weight that might be supported, e.g. tools in a depending holster.
These and other objects and advantages which are attained by the invention will become more fully apparent as the description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.